NHL players got the clearance to play in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. / Gene J. Puskar, AP

by Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports

by Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports

The NHL's spat-filled romance with the Olympics is officially on again with the league announcing that it will send its players to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Games.

The league will take a break in its schedule Feb. 9 and resume play Feb. 26 to accommodate the Olympic participation.

The tournament will run from Feb. 12-23 and the USA will be in a group with Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Although owners and players came out of the last collective bargaining agreement fight with a presumption that the NHL would continue Olympic participation, the league and the NHL Players' Association needed months of negotiations to work out their differences with the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation.

"The decision to participate in the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi was in many ways a difficult one, but one that we know will be well received by our players and, most importantly, by the vast majority of our fans and sports fans everywhere," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

NHL officials appreciate the exposure the Olympics bring to their sport, but they have been displeased about the logistics. For example, the NHL hasn't been able to show Olympic game highlights on the league's websites and television network. Owners and team general managers had no access to the NHL players. The league and NHLPA also were seeking more benefits for the players, players' family members and league guests.

The NHL has been sending players to the Olympics since 1998. Canada has won two gold medals (2002 and 2010), the Czech Republic won in 1998 and Sweden took gold in 2006. The Americans won silver medals in the 2002 and 2010 Games, both of which were played in North America. It lost in the quarterfinals the other two times.

Seven NHL referees and six NHL linesmen will join the IIHF on-ice officials' crews. The tournament will be played according to the IIHF rulebook on the wider international ice surface.

"I think speed will be even more important with that big ice," Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who scored the gold-medal clincher in Vancouver, said during a conference call. "Obviously physical play is always important, but I think with the bigger ice it's probably going to be a little bit tougher to establish that. So I think speed and skill is really going to be a big part of that game."

USA Hockey has said that the bigger surface, 15 feet wider than NHL rinks, could affect who it brings to Sochi.

The USA, which has named David Poile as general manager and Dan Bylsma as coach, will invite 40 players to the Washington Capitals' practice facility in Arlington, Va., on Aug. 26-27 for an orientation camp.

Defending champion Canada will hold a camp in late August in Calgary. Hockey Canada expects to name a coaching staff soon. Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was the winning coach at the Vancouver Games.